The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by the daughter of Shah Bano Begum, whose legal battle to get alimony from ex-husband became a landmark case, seeking a stay on the release of Hindi film Haq, holding that it was devoid of merits.
The order, passed by the Indore bench of the high court on November 4 and whose copy was delivered on Thursday, cleared the way for the release of the film on November 7.
Featuring Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi in the lead roles, Haq is said to be inspired by the life and legal struggle of Shah Bano Begum, whose landmark case in 1985 led the Supreme Court to grant divorced Muslim women the right to maintenance.
Bano, a resident of Indore, died in 1992. Her daughter, Siddiqua Begum Khan, had approached the high court claiming that the film was made without the family's consent and misrepresented personal aspects of her late mother's life.
“Thus, in view of the aforesaid discussion, I am of the considered view that the petitioner has failed to make out any case for interfering in the matter. Consequently, the petition is found to be devoid of any merits and is hereby dismissed," Justice Pranay Verma of the Indore bench said in the order.
Lawyers representing the production companies contested these claims and urged the court to dismiss the plea.
After hearing all sides, Justice Verma on November 4 reserved the order in the case. It was uploaded and shared with the petitioner's counsel on Thursday, her counsel said.
Shah Bano had filed a lawsuit in a local court seeking maintenance from her lawyer-husband Mohammad Ahmed Khan after he divorced her in 1978.
After a lengthy legal battle, the Supreme Court ruled in her favour in 1985. The verdict by a five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court ruled that Muslim women were also entitled to maintenance under the law.
Following protests by Muslim organisations, the then-Rajiv Gandhi government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act in 1986. This law nullified the SC decision in the Shah Bano case.